


The Singer in the Dungeon

by Erisah_Mae



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: And have them be besties with Bifur, Bifur doesn't get enough love, I just wanted to put someone black in Tolkien for a change, Original Character - Freeform, Sign Language, because why not, original character of colour
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-06
Updated: 2015-12-06
Packaged: 2018-05-05 05:53:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5363876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erisah_Mae/pseuds/Erisah_Mae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s singing again.</p><p>Singing unfamiliar songs, with strange melodies and stranger words.</p><p>Those are the first thoughts Bifur has as he awakens in his cell on the third day of his imprisonment in the elven dungeon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Singer in the Dungeon

She’s singing again.

Singing unfamiliar songs, with strange melodies and stranger words.

Those are the first thoughts Bifur has as he awakens in his cell on the third day of his imprisonment in the elven dungeon.

The singer is also a prisoner, locked in the cell across from him. There’s nothing much else of interest in the dungeon, apart from shouting messages to his fellow dwarves in earshot, or scowling at the guards when they wander by either to check on the prisoners or deliver food, so he spends a fair amount of time watching her curiously.

She of course, notices quickly, and says something to him in a language he does not recognise. This surprises him, as although the axe gets in the way of him speaking well in languages that are not Old Khudzul, (and wouldn’t his tutor Guli daughter of Thuli have been proud,) he has travelled widely enough that he can comprehend many languages, and recognise more.

Her tone is wry enough that he suspects she already knows that he will not understand her.

The elves don’t seem to understand her either.

They consider her an oddity, and Bifur privately wonders if he and the woman were put near one another in the cells because of that.

And she certainly is an oddity.

Even besides the fact that she speaks a language that none of them can understand, Bifur has never seen someone with quite so many piercings, nor such dark skin.

She has a sad smile and a pleasantly deep voice when she sings.

Even though her songs are strange and unfamiliar, Bifur finds that listening to them is a pleasant way to pass the time.

Bifur decides that he likes his neighbour on the strength of these things alone.

The third day is significant for two reasons.

The first of these reasons is that he learns his neighbour’s name.

She turns to see him looking at her, and she smiles. She points to herself and says, “Tina,” before pointing to him.

“Bifur,” he responds.

Her smile grows wider, and she babbles something at him that includes his name.

He responds in Iglishmek, because he really should not speak Khuzdul to outsiders.

Her eyes widen in shock.

Bifur is confused, until suddenly the singer has her hands flapping wildly, her hands forming signs expressing her shock and amazement that someone understands… well, whatever she is signing isn’t the sign for “Iglishmek”, but nonetheless he gets the gist of what she’s saying.

There are a number of unfamiliar signs thrown into her communications, enough that Bifur quickly realises that although her sign language might be related to Iglishmek, it is not quite the same.

Still, it’s enough to establish at least some communication, and Bifur finds himself signing to Tina until his arms grow tired.

The second reason that the third day is significant is that Bilbo shows up.

Almost as soon as the elf guards leave, having dropped off Bifur’s and Tina’s dinners of gruel, the hobbit comes wandering out as casual as you please.

Bifur is sure his face is quite the picture.

He never would have thought the hobbit had the gumption.

Sure, the hobbit had shown that he was not quite as soft as they had all thought when they had invaded his odd home back in the Shire, but wandering around so brazenly when the elves could easily throw him in a cell along with the rest of the dwarves?

Bifur wonders if Bilbo had been taking tips from Nori.

Bilbo tells Bifur that Bofur and Bombur are both alright, and are asking after him. He doesn’t ask if Bifur has a message to send back- although the both of them are courteous to one another, the lack of a common language has been well established between them. The hobbit also tells him that he’s working on a way to get all of the dwarves out of there, but he has yet to find Thorin.

Bifur wishes he could ask Bilbo for more details, like how Bilbo had managed to evade the elves, but is distracted by the sudden gasp from Tina, who is looking wide-eyed at Bilbo’s feet.

From the way Bilbo jumps, he didn’t notice that she was there.

Sloppy, thinks Bifur.

Tina babbles something, then shakes her head in frustration before signing something to Bifur that he doesn’t quite understand.

He tells her as much, and her brow crinkles with frustration, before it clears, and she grins, before she starts to hum the tune to something that Bifur would _never_ have imagined she might know.

[She hums their song.](http://vocaroo.com/i/s0CWmkqAA1wg)

Their song about the fire, and the dragon, and about running until their feet bled. Their song about gold. Their song about going home.

It is a song that even Bilbo recognises, as they had sung the song in his hole when they had started their quest.

(Bifur is glad that Bilbo is there to hear this, as otherwise, how could he explain it? Who would believe him?)

 _How?_ Bifur asks her. How can she know?

Her smile is a little hysterical, as she tells him that he wouldn’t believe her if she told him.

But she begs him to take her with him when he goes.

 _Even seeing the dragon would be better than rotting away in this dungeon_ , she tells him with her hands.

Later, after Bilbo leaves, she sings the song again, albeit with her strange unfamiliar words.

Bifur hums the counterpoint.

**Author's Note:**

> Not sure if there will ever be more of this, but if I was going to write a Hobbit Self-Insert-style character story, this would be the beginning.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: 
> 
> http://beka-tiddalik.tumblr.com/


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